A Bad Night
by DrHoneyChuckles
Summary: POST MOCKINGJAY In the four years of their marriage she'd never caught him in a nightmare, until now... One-Shot


A/N: This takes place AFTER Mockingjay. If you haven't read it, don't read. :) Reviews are nice.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games.

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><p>Peeta always said that I would thrash and call out when I had a nightmare. I would tell him that he never did those things. He would agree and say that he just didn't do those things.<p>

It's been five years since the Capitol crumbled, but sometimes I still have nightmares. Peeta and I have been married and living together for four of those five years. (We had an actual marriage ceremony. Not one staged by the Capitol.) Our first child will be here in a matter of weeks. It took a lot of convincing from Peeta to finally agree to try for a baby. Now that I was pregnant I was anxious. I constantly wondered whether it was a boy or a girl or whether it would have my eyes or Peeta's. Peeta was even more excited than me.

Even though the bad days were behind us, we both still had nightmares. They were few and far between now, but even so they were still there. The Capitol would stick with us for a long time. Every time I would wake up from a bad dream Peeta would always be there, but even in our four years of marriage I'd never caught Peeta in a nightmare.

I woke up in the middle of the night when the child gave a powerful kick. I was used to this by now and winced slightly as I tried to readjust myself in bed. My belly was huge. Haymitch assured me that I had the largest belly he'd ever seen on a pregnant woman. I found myself facing Peeta and noticed sweat was beading his brow. I put my hand against his chest and felt his heart beating at about 200 miles per hour. "Peeta?" I called gently and shook his shoulder slightly.

His eyes shot open and his breath suddenly sounded like he'd just finished a marathon. It took him a moment to adjust and slow his breathing. "Are you alright?" He asked in confusion. "Is the baby okay?"

"I'm fine, Peeta. The baby too." I assured him. My brows creased in concern. "Are you alright?"

Peeta gulped and nodded. "Just a bad dream."

I reached up and brushed some sweat soaked hair from his eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head and reached up to grab my hand. He clasped it in his two large ones. "Maybe in the morning."

I nodded and rolled over so my back was to Peeta. He pressed against me and wrapped one of his arms around my belly while tucking the other one under his head. I put my head in the nook under his chin. I feel Peeta drop back to sleep in a matter of minutes. I'm wide awake though. What could Peeta possibly be dreaming about?

It wasn't even an hour later when I felt Peeta's heart speed up again. I felt it pounding through my back. I put my hand up and started stroking his hair. He took a shaky breath inward and I craned my neck to see that his eyes were open now and a tear was tracing its way down his strong jaw line. His eyes looked sad and weary.

"What's wrong, Peeta?" I asked gently.

He buried his head in my neck and broke down into tears.

I was no good at this whole comforting thing, but new Peeta was in desperate need of it. I thought of what Peeta did for me when I woke up from a nightmare. I stroked his hair and whispered soft words of encouragement like "It'll be alright." And "It was just a dream."

"I can't believe I did that to you." Peeta finally managed. He untangled himself from me and swung his legs off the side of the bed. I rolled onto my back and continued to lie in bed. I have a strange feeling that I know what he's talking about.

"You've never done anything to me." I reply gently and reach my hand out to find his. He quickly holds mine and I can feel his fingers trembling. Whatever he had dreamed about had really shaken him up.

"But I have, Katniss." He looked back over his shoulder and I could see tears shining in his eyes even in the dim candlelight. "I put my hands around your throat and tried to strangle the life out of you. What if I…?" His eyes darted down to my swollen belly as his voice trailed off. He then turned away from me.

"Peeta." I said forcefully. "Look at me." He obeyed. "The Capitol is never going to touch us again, alright? They're never _ever _going to do anything like that ever again. And I know you'll never do anything like that again either. We love this child so much already… It won't happen, Peeta. You're going to be a great father."

I hope I've said the right words as he keeps silent for a few moments. "You think so?" he asks timidly.

"I know so."

He nods, wipes his face with his hand, and then slips back under the covers. After a while of silence I think he's nodded off again when he whispers, "You're going to be a great mother too."


End file.
